Mailbag

“Queen Latifah‘s beauty and confidence inspires me to love myself just the way I am”

Misty Bounds

Wylie, Texas

Queen Latifah is an amazingly talented singer and actress, she is down-to-earth and family oriented, and, best of all, she is proud to flaunt her gorgeous figure. She is absolutely beautiful inside and out. Thanks for featuring a woman who has helped so many young women, myself included, to embrace our body-licious curves. Long live the Queen!

Katie Bench

Blackfoot, Idaho

Thank you for having the guts to publish an article about an actress who isn’t a cardboard cutout. There are a lot of girls who need to know that not everyone in Hollywood is a size zero. Queen Latifah rocks.

Vicki Matrious

White Bear Lake, Minn.

Obesity is an epidemic across the country. If Queen Latifah wants to consider herself a role model, she should start by being an example to young people by maintaining a healthy weight.

Cecilia Perry

via e-mail

HEROES OF 2007

I’ve been reading PEOPLE since the very first issue in 1974, with Mia Farrow on the cover. Your Heroes of the Year issue is the reason I’ll be a lifetime subscriber. Every single story was great, and many of them brought me to tears. I understand you need flashy, celeb covers to sell magazines and I read those stories too, but it is the Heroes issues that keep me coming back. No one can touch my PEOPLE until I’ve read it first, and this issue was one of the best in months.

Esther Battock

Phoenix, Ariz.

CALIFORNIA WILDFIRES

I live in Modjeska Canyon, which was in the middle of the Santiago Fire, one of the devastating wildfires in Southern California. In our little community we have a volunteer fire department—one of the few left in Orange County. These unpaid men and women fought tirelessly to save our homes. Our fire department has been around since 1947 and responds to about 100 calls a year. We had a potluck supper at the firehouse just a day and a half after our mandatory evacuation was lifted to honor our firefighters. It would be great if you could honor them too.

Dayna Edwards

via e-mail

REESE AND JAKE

I almost howled with joy when I saw the article about Reese Witherspoon and Jake Gyllenhaal! I’m a fan of both of them, though I have to admit to being a bigger fan of Jake—those blue eyes and that smile are to die for. Reese and Jake look adorable together, and I am so happy for them. Thank you for a great story about a lovely couple.

Bonnie Crawford

Mayfield, N.Y.

PASSAGES

You lumped the deaths of comedian Joey Bishop and actress Deborah Kerr into Passages? Is this the best you can do? Deborah Kerr was nominated for six Oscars and had a career that spanned nearly 50 years. Mr. Bishop was a star of TV and nightclubs for decades. They deserved better.

Christy Painter

West Bloomfield, Mich.

ELLEN AND IGGY

Readers reacted emotionally to our story about how Ellen DeGeneres adopted a rescue puppy named Iggy, then gave him to a friend’s family because he didn’t get along with her cats. Judy Young of Rotterdam, N.Y., writes that Ellen did the right thing: “Ellen would not hurt a single soul on this earth. I support her 100 percent.” But Denise Leone, via e-mail, disagreed, noting that the Mutts and Moms agency forbade adopting owners from giving away a rescue pet: “Ellen signed a contract and had no right to give Iggy away.” Ellen said she didn’t notice the restriction, and when agency owner Marina Baktis reclaimed Iggy, Ellen pleaded on air for her to reconsider—causing further tumult when her fans besieged Baktis with calls. Mutts and Moms has since shut down, and Baktis may abandon the pet adoption business. As for Iggy, she says, he’s settled in with a new family—with cats: “He’s Mr. Happy Pants.”